Categories: OLD Media Moves

Former Forbes editor Michaels is dead

Former Forbes editor James Michaels, who ran the business magazine for nearly four decades, has died at the age of 86 from pneumonia, according to a story on the magazine’s web site.

The story, written by Steve, Bob, Kip and Tim Forbes, said, “When he took the helm of Forbes in 1961–he had joined the company in 1954–he brilliantly turned what was then a second-rate publication into not only the leader of the business category but also one of the best magazines both here and around the world.

“He virtually created modern business journalism. He saw Forbes as the ‘drama critic’ of business. Under his stewardship, Forbes became the definitive source of who was doing well, and who wasn’t, and why.

“While Forbes stories were full of statistics, Jim always made sure they focused on the people in charge. Business–which was once regarded as a dull area of dry statistics–became a fascinating stage of drama, triumphs and tragedies, thanks to Jim’s editorial flair and leadership.

“Jim was a relentless foe of verbosity; as one former editor quipped, ‘Jim could edit the Lord’s Prayer down to six words, and nobody would miss anything.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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R Fretwell says:
October 4, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I grew into a businessman reading his magazine and it did more than any university to help me understand the business world by reading about its leaders and how they had faults and strengths like any other human.